Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto

So I realize I just did an extensive post on corn, but maybe you didn't know just how much I love corn. When I opened the August issue of Bon Appetit to find that they had a whole section devoted to corn, I turned into a giddy little girl. You will too (I don't care who you are) after you make this recipe.

I took a few small liberties, but the credit all goes to Bon Appetit. I can already tell this will be a favorite in my house for many summers to come!

Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto
*includes a few tiny tweaks from yours truly :)

4 bacon slices, chopped
5 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears
)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted and divided
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces tagliatelle
3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided

Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer 2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. Scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. Add 3/4 cup Parmesan, 1/3 cup pine nuts and 1/4 cup basil leaves. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves, 3 tablespoons pine nuts and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.

8 comments:

Bun Baker said...

Am definitely making this!

Anonymous said...

I love me some tailgate pasta! bahahahaha thanks for teaching me a new word :)

Lindsay said...

I will now have to call tagliatelle "tailgate pasta" every time I use it :)

lisa is cooking said...

I'm a big fan of corn (being from Illinois and all), and I just saw read that part of Bon Apppetit last night. Sounds great!

Lindsay said...

A fellow midwesterner? awesome! Yes I tend to go a bit corn-crazy this time of year, and I make no apologies! :)

Unknown said...

I really want to make this this weekend. Mmm.

Jodi said...

Just made this for dinner and it is delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe, Lindsay. Some modifications:

1. Used fettucine since that's what I had.
2. Used blanched almonds (same reason as above)

It's really good and fresh tasting!
xo

Lindsay said...

Cara- hope you do! I'm remaking it myself to bring to a BBQ.

Jodi, love the swap outs you did! I must say the pine nuts were delectable in this dish, but I bet almonds were lovely too :)